1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical heating device with a plurality of electrical heating elements, which are held by a housing and abut heat conducting surfaces over which the medium to be heated can flow. The heating elements of the electrical heating device are provided with contact lugs for their electrical connection. All or some of the contact lugs are arranged essentially at the same height and are connected by a plate element which is provided with conductive paths and comprises contact lug receptacles for electrically contacting the contact lugs.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electrical heating device of this nature is known for example from EP 1 872 986 A1 which originates from the applicant. With this state of the art the housing forms a chamber in which the heat of the electrical heating elements is transferred to a liquid medium. For this purpose the electrical heating elements are located in several U-shaped heating chambers and are in thermal conducting contact with the walls of the heating chambers, over which the liquid flows on the outside.
A generic electrical heating device can however also be formed by an electrical auxiliary heater for heating the air in the vehicle passenger compartment. In this case the housing is normally formed by a frame in which a plurality of electrical heating elements are held in a layer structure, which comprises radiator elements, which abut the electrical heating elements and over which the air to be heated flows. The electrical heating elements here also comprise PTC elements with sheet metal bands abutting them on both sides. Single sheet metal bands are brought out over the layer structure to form contact lugs at the side. An electrical heating device of this nature is for example described in EP 1 157 867 A1.
With the generic heating devices there is the necessity of simply contacting the electrical heating elements. Here, normally the electrical heating elements are pre-assembled in the housing before any electrical connection is made to the electrical heating elements. Consequently, often a plug connection is required which facilitates a simple but effective and permanent electrical connection to the contact lugs of the electrical heating elements.